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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Jim F...that is a nice compliment from your teacher to have her appreciate your effort. Don't they say something about talent is 1/4 ability and 3/4 perseverance? Ah...maybe it was inspiration and perspiration...don't remember but do know that EFFORT makes a difference.

Ragdoll...let me know how you do on the Vivace (what composer or book?). You'll achieve the 100 bpm on scales once the fingering is ingrained. Real speed seems to be beyond my reach although I'm faster this year than last with daily work on scales and chords. I'm glad to hear you find the scales "fun"...I'm enjoying the accomplishment of making them solid and smooth.

Ragdoll...let me know how you do on the Vivace (what composer or book?).

Well I've printed it out 'cause the book won't stay open @ the piano, but I think it's from Faber's Piano Adventures Level 4. I began initially with Snowflake Rag (also Faber's) because I was/am intimidated with classical (no experience). I found Vivace not to be so hard the few times I've taken it for a test ride. Of course I'm not even this > < close to cut-time but around 80 = d. I'm not really a fan of classical but am willing to try whatever my teacher suggests as she's the expert and receiver of my $$.

Thanks for your kind words re: my scale work. I remember when I first learned them in parallel for 2 octaves but this contrary motion is really a challange for me and I can't imagine what use it will ever be to me <shrug>

I should've working right now. Good thing no one knows my name (well not explicitly anyway). Instead I was playing the piano this morning. It was fun. I could play through the Brahmes Intermezzo now with so many things to fix. I recorded myself yesterday and noticed that was very sluggish around the middle section (the famous repeat section before the church organ type passage). So I'm speeding up the section a little bit. I'm playing the repeat with left hand louder second time around. But it doesnt sound natural when i do it. So I'm gonna emphasize the held notes and keep the rest of the left hand notes a bit muted while I play all the notes a little louder than the first time. Anyway that's the plan. I don't have so much time until I have to play this for the studio class on 1/5. Bach is another story. Prelude was fairly easy and fun to play with different dynamics. But oh, the fugue is hard. I am not sure if I can ever memorize it. Somehow the subject keeps appearing in different voices! I suppose that's what a fugue is. Anyway it's my first time. I do my best to emphasize the subject and then I encounter spots where I should be using terraced dynamics etc. it's a busy piece many things are going on simultaneously. I feel like dealing with 3 opinionated singers. It's nice to practice during the day. Ok I have to check email now. Happy holidays.

I really like this thread. It's a constant source of motivation for me. Thanks to everyone contributing to it!As of me, well, today I've got to 400 practice hours milestone. I've met my best option in my plan for 2012 where I expected to achieve around 200 hours but kept 400 as a very nice milestone. This is done, but honestly speaking a *lot* is still to be done and to be played -- which is very nice on this live-long piano playing adventure, isn't it? :-)

Andy, of course not. People who will come to my party know my name addresss and telephone number. Some even met my husband (yes, the same who starred in his own 'moon'light sonata). It will be fun. I may give people option to attend via Skype (lol). Well it's a joke but one ABFer who comes to the party is a retired engineer and taught me how to do Skype. I wish you could come but, seriously, if you or anyone else want to say "hi" via Skype, we will include it in the program.

Bob (I don't even remember your login name any more!), if u are reading, what do you think?

I really like this thread. It's a constant source of motivation for me. Thanks to everyone contributing to it!As of me, well, today I've got to 400 practice hours milestone. I've met my best option in my plan for 2012 where I expected to achieve around 200 hours but kept 400 as a very nice milestone. This is done, but honestly speaking a *lot* is still to be done and to be played -- which is very nice on this live-long piano playing adventure, isn't it? :-)

Karel

I love milestones like that

Cathy

_________________________
CathyPractice like you are the worst; play like you are the best - anonymous

I don't have any achievements this week, as have been ill with a really nasty cold, feeling like crap, lost voice, choking cough etc and as crazy as this probably sounds, I have not wanted to play my piano - because it's such a beautiful, perfect thing that it feels wrong to put germs all over it. I wash my hands obsessively anyway before touching it, but playing it while ill just seems evil.

I did offer not to go to my lesson later to protect my teacher from my germs, but she said I should still come. Perhaps she's used to people turning up and coughing all over her and the piano. I'm not sure what she's going to think of my lack of practice and I hope her immune system is strong, as I think if it was me I would have told me to stay away with my germs.

Toastie, I hope you are getting better. Honestly speaking I agree with you that illness is not the right time to put pressure on yourself and do any intensive practice. On the other hand, if you do have Yamaha U3 which looks really like a nice instrument it would be a waste if you even in illness do not play a chord or two, hear the resonance of the massive wooden body, meditate and enjoy the harmony of the sound...Such think usually inspire me and I continue playing for a little bit more just of the joy of playing nice piano and feeding myself with chords harmonies... Isn't this also a good medicine? Don't worry about your piano and germs, germs can't do any harm to it anyway. :-)

Toastie, I hope you are getting better. Honestly speaking I agree with you that illness is not the right time to put pressure on yourself and do any intensive practice. On the other hand, if you do have Yamaha U3 which looks really like a nice instrument it would be a waste if you even in illness do not play a chord or two, hear the resonance of the massive wooden body, meditate and enjoy the harmony of the sound...Such think usually inspire me and I continue playing for a little bit more just of the joy of playing nice piano and feeding myself with chords harmonies... Isn't this also a good medicine? Don't worry about your piano and germs, germs can't do any harm to it anyway. :-)

Well I did a bit of practice in the end (after thoroughly washing my hands before, during and after, with a scarf over my face etc). Went to lesson, as I did try to spare my teacher the germs, but she insisted she never catches these things anymore and has seen worse. By the time I arrived it was evident I should have stayed at home really and I fumbled through my homework, feeling so feverish i forgot how to operate my hands and then we just talked about god knows what and then I realised 45 minutes had passed instead of half an hour. I can't even remember most of what i said, as I was that out of it. Strangest lesson I've had, I must have seemed either very odd or very ill.

Toastie, I hope you feel better too. I was horribly sick a couple of years ago (chest cold to bronchitis to neumonia). Initially I did not stop practicing. I stopped only after it got worse. Best to stay in bed. I could not see how it was possible to compose when Chopin was so ill. I tried but could not play very well when I was coughing. My body was shaking with feverish chill and each voiceless cough ( I lost voice) seemed to jolt my body. Get well my friend.

Toastie, being sick saps a person's energy. Good for you that you still made some time for piano. This year, I've been wearing a mask a lot, and I have stayed healthy. Most years, I have some kind of cough or congestion by December.

KarelG, 400 hours for one year is a good number. At my anniversary in March 2013, I might have half that many hours.

Week 41: I ran into a friend who is a musician and songwriter. He is recording his songs in studio to release an album of sorts. 25 years ago, he released a CD with the dream of making a career in music. These days it is a legacy project, just to have the songs recorded in studio with full backing. My friend is a much more accomplished musician than me (he dreamed of going pro as a pop musician). I enjoyed talking music and songwriting. For both of us, playing and writing music was a way to get through some very difficult, very dark times. I find that the tribe of songwriters is relatively small. I estimate that I meet 10 to 20 competent amateur musicians for every competent songwriter.

My piano week is stagnant. Christmas is here, and I am disappointed that my two Christmas songs are not performance ready. I lamented to my friend that 15 minutes a day translates into very little progress. I am still reclaiming Ashokan Farewell. Some here might remember my crash and burn when I performed it at Songmakers in September. It will be nerve wracking to try it again.

Another long time favorite of my mine is Pachelbel's Canon in D. I first heard it performed by street musicians on the Santa Monica 3rd street promenade. I am thinking I will make that the next big project. As I often do, I'll probably want to do my own arrangement. In the new year, I'll have more time, and hopefully my hand issues will stay under control. I am also hatching a plan to keep the keyboard setup, instead of having to move it from under the bed each time I want to play. I want to do that before thinking about upgrading my Yamaha NP11.

So not much progress, but I am still at it every day for 15 minutes or more. I see many others are time challenged this time of year, so that gives me perspective.

There was no reason to begin learning a new piece because I was reviewing 4 pieces daily that I could play, but they were at the stage of my brain and fingers were on high alert to keep it together for no mistakes. That was up until today when I played the pieces and I could play them slowly and relaxed. Lots of things to do to polish them off but it was nice to see my fingers and brain working together in a very relaxed fashion. It is almost an out of body experience. when the fingers and the brain work together in a relaxed fashion.

Participated in a recital. And did very well. There was depth to the music for the first time ever on stage and I wasn't bothered by the audience at all after the first 2 minutes. Played 3 pieces and by the time I was done I didn't want to have to step down from the stage.

Last week I also had a concert with the academy choir and we did amazing. We were dressed nicely and our singing was beautiful. Everyone was following the conductor and each piece was conducted by a different person from the choir. Maybe next year I will volunteer to conduct one of the pieces myself, seeing how fun it was. Same thing after being on stage for 10 minutes I didn't want to go home, it was intoxicating, there was no feeling of insecurity and no worries about the audience. It was in a huge concert hall which was full of people too

Thanks for the sympathy everyone, have been feeling very sorry for myself. Much better today and capable of staying upright at the piano again, so that's where I'm going now.

In case I don't see you all for a few days I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas. I am very excited that for the first time in my life I will be able to play piano on Christmas day. I always had an image in my head of doing that, not sure why. It will be like being in a Christmas card! Tomorrow I plan on playing as much piano as I can, then I am going to have lunch with a friend. Then I will play piano again when I get back and it will be really nice, beause I always find a Christmas a bit strange.

My non-achievement of the week was to get in a crummy practice last evening. My spouse hooked up speakers to the TV and found 'Sound of Music' was on. I love the movie, but the mix of piano and "The hills are alive, with the sound of music...." in stereo just didn't work all that well. I soldiered on to get in a legit practice, then joined him on the sofa to watch the remainder of the movie.

My achievement was to get in a couple of sub-seven minute renditions of Canon in D. I find I do better when I don't try so hard. I wish I had some of Teodor's ease of public performance (Congrats, Teodor!). I don't even have ease of private performance. The rational part of me knows that practice and experience go a long way to fixing that, but sheesh, convincing the chicken-hearted part of me--not so easy!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! I asked Santa for some piano-related stuff for Christmas, so we'll see if I was good or bad this year.

_________________________Sometimes as adults we forget to let the joy in. --blackjack1777 Yamaha C3X

This has been a very good practice week for me, because my husband has a major programming project, leaving me with lots of time! I have been playing piano 4-5 hours a day most days. That has resulted in pretty good progress for the week. I have been recording my playing everyday, and working on the problems that I hear. It is amazing how much more detail that I can hear in the playback, that I do not notice when just playing-- are the chords even and well voiced? Does the phrase flow well? etc. I am appreciating the ease of recording with my Avant Grand. I need to make recording a regular part of practice instead of only doing it when I have a piece ready for performance! My AOTW is realizing that I have a much more critical ear than I did a year ago. I probably would not have heard a lot of what is unacceptable to me now in my playing.

My other achievement of the week was sight reading and playing Christmas Carols for friends and family at a party. I at least was able to keep up with the singers!

Teodor, that sounds fantastic. I would love to experience that sort of performance euphoria at least once in my life time. Given your youth and talent, you will go far my friend.

My piano achievement - well barely playing through the Brahmes piece. Recorded a couple of times. I can play through but still I make errors. I am able to connect to where I know without stopping (making up notes) when I record by myself. But I'm not sure if I can do the same when I play it on the stage. Bach fugue is still a struggle by getting there. I have to start memorizing the prelude.

Other - I suddenly got invited to a pianists's home party. He is kind of well known in AZ. So I will not say his name. It turned out he knows my teacher too. So we are invited to both his home recital and family dinner afterwards. He is going to play Schumann Scrabian and some Chopin. I'm so excited. Also I met a couple of people who play the piano in my new church. Happy holidays to everyone.

Lots of practice for me, and it's on an old U3 in beat up shape, so I'm getting a good workout. When I go back home next week and get to play my C3 again, it's gonna be great (and I think I'll be very happy with my progress).

_________________________
Playing since age 21 (September 2010) and loving it more every day."You can play better than BachMach2." - Mark_CCurrently Butchering:Chopin Ballade no 1 in G minor Op.23My Piano Diary: http://www.youtube.com/sirsardonicâ™ª > $

Nice to read your posts. And a happy ending 2012 to you all. Hope that 2013 will be a good piano year to you.

I downloaded the sheet of Chopin's Balade no 1 to see what it's like. 8 pages rolled out of my printer. Ok, looking at them, I had to admit this one is too difficult for me. Too large and too fast to be fun. Pfffff.....

So instead I printed out Chopin's Nocturne in c-sharp minor. 3 pages and it has a slow tempo. I learned to play a thriller in a piece of Granados, so maybe I could play the thrillers in this nocturne too.

My aotw is that I'm almost finished with the first page. The thriller sounds good, but not tender enough yet. The arpeggio's with the left hand, I can barely reach them. But I do, so I'm happy. Wish my hands were bigger though.

There is something strange about the arpeggio's. They are not played in a straight rythm, although the notes are all quarter notes. The first note of the chord is played longer than the other three. Then the other notes catch up to make that 'dreamy' effect.

And there is another thing strange about the piece. I have 3 versions with different editors and they are all different. That's really confusing.

I wonder at which pitch Chopin played his piano too. It does make a lot of difference in sound when tuned to A=435, 425 or 446.

The only thing I had to do with this achievement was writing a check but oh what joy I have now. My RPT came and tuned the Yamaha and it sounds so much better it's just thrilling!! I knew it need a tune but hadn't realized how out it really was. After he left I played for a solid hour.

Oh help and bother.I spent Christmas Eve day in a marathon of cookie decorating with my daughter. I overused my arm piping icing out of a pastry bag and it still hurts a bit when I play, so my lefty is working a bit more at the piano while my pastry injury rests.

Ragdoll--playing right after the tuner is always a treat!

_________________________ Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.â€“ Roald Dahl

This is not so much an accomplishment as just plain fun. Once a week I go to a piano store in ZÃ¼rich that has soundproofed piano rooms for rent at a very reasonable price. No one was there except me yesterday morning, so I tried out all four piano rooms and played four different pianos: a yamaha 7 ft grand, a Bosendorfer upright, a Boston baby grand, and a Bechstein upright. Each has a distinctively different feel and sound. I played my three pieces on each and it was really instructive to adjust the pieces to each piano. I had a blast!

This is not so much an accomplishment as just plain fun. Once a week I go to a piano store in ZÃ¼rich that has soundproofed piano rooms for rent at a very reasonable price. No one was there except me yesterday morning, so I tried out all four piano rooms and played four different pianos: a yamaha 7 ft grand, a Bosendorfer upright, a Boston baby grand, and a Bechstein upright. Each has a distinctively different feel and sound. I played my three pieces on each and it was really instructive to adjust the pieces to each piano. I had a blast!

Wow sounds great! I'd love to try out a Bosendorfer and a Bechstein.

And to be in ZÃ¼rich!!

_________________________ Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.â€“ Roald Dahl

Last week I got together with a neighbor who plays the Sax but hasn't played in a while. He had a Yamaha keyboard. I have never played with anyone before. While he played melody I tried to handle accompanamient. We did not do too well. We got through a tune, if you would call what we did as getting through a tune. Basically I did not know what to do.

Tonight we got together again. For me, everything seemed to come together from the first note I played. Somehow I sensed how to shape the chords so as to make smooth changes to the next chord. In the right hand I kept it simple and added a brief amount of melody but stayed away from playing the melody completely. I was able to add a little improv to the music.

We got through the piece several times using the keyboard metronome. We then went on to another tune and had some success.

I am not saying that it was smooth sailing but we took a giant leap in progress. I was able to look at the music in a different light then I had ever done before. It was a moment to remember after having one of my most tension filled weeks in some time. We are going to go at this at least once a week until we can successfully get a number of tunes in our hands. At that point we will try and entertain our neighbors, something I have wanted to do for a long time.